The Missing Princess
by Akatsukifreak24
Summary: Based on my two OC's Suine Iburame and Melody Nami, which i made for Itachi and Kisame. This story takes place three months after the (spoilers) war. It is filled with twists, action, cute bonding scenes between many characters and new exciting villains! There is also many fluffy romances! Sorry for the bad intro! Read the first chapter and see if you like it :) Hope you enjoy :)
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note! _

_This is completely fan-made! Disclaimer: All plots, characters, back stories and plot-lines belong to the creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto. I do not own any of it nor will i ever be making any sort of profits from this story!_

_Another Author Note! PLEASE READ BEFORE READING THE STORY!_

_This is completely my own creation and I do hope you enjoy my characters along with the certain twists i planned for this story. If you are either not up to date with the manga or the anime (either one should be fine for this story i believe) i would probably wait on reading this story until you are caught up. I do not believe there are many spoilers in this story but i do not wish to ruin the actual story line for you, so please be warned! All of my own characters are actual kind of precious to me now (Since I've been writing about them for years now) and would ask you to please respect them if you do review. :) However, if you do have any questions regarding the story, feel free to ask me :)_

_Besides the spoiler warning and my own personal request; i hope you enjoy the story! And let the fun begin :D_

_The New Plot_

An evil smile grew across the man's face as he entered the conference room of his base. His dark red hair was messy and flew off in different directions. His hair barely touched the middle of his neck. Dark red eyes searched the room for his comrades but found none of them. His Kekkei Genkai was activated, just for the hell of it, making his eyeball go purely black which made his red eyes look even creepier. Within his teeth was a cigarette which he had just immediately lit with his lighter. Around his neck were stitch marks, making it look like his head had been reattached to its body. In actuality, his head was reattached to his body, with the help of someone who happened to be dead by now.

Clipped onto his ear was a golden earring which he seemed to cherish more than his cigarette. He wore a long red scarf that went past his back, covering a little bit of his neck. Around his torso was a sleeveless top that covered his back but was open around his chest area. To cover his chest was a white sleeveless shirt but he would much rather show his chest if his organization would allow it. Black gloves started a bit after his shoulders and they reached all the way to his fingers, finishing off at his middle finger. He wore black nail polish, just because he liked it. At his waist was a red ribbon that he tied to the left side. Also, a brown ninja pouch was tied around his waist, which held all of his kunai's and shurikens. After his waist was black Capri's that ended at his knees, where his black ninja shoes finished off his look.

The man sighed, excited for the plan to take lift off. What could be more exciting than setting the world on its head? Seeing it ablaze was more his goal than anything else. He enjoyed seeing the world in pain, to see it scream in horror as it breathes its last breath. It was a glorious future that he wished to bequeath to the world. Many would either blame his dark heart for this wish of his or his deranged mind. But either way, this man was clearly on a path to bring about destruction to the world.

"Hiashi…" A voice made the man jump out of his skin.

Hiashi turned around to his very un-talkative comrade. The man that had spoken a single creepy word stared coldly at Hiashi with his dark blue eyes. His light blue hair, much like Hiashi's, was ruffled and ended at the end of his neck. He wore a black cloak that he tended to wear even in the summer which was just a curious thought to Hiashi. He wore the black hood over his head and the cloak ended at his thighs. It was tight against his torso and arms, then spread out after his waist. A dark blue collar could be seen covering his neck. After his waist, the cloak allowed his black pants to be shown along with his black ninja shoes. A blue ribbon had been wrapped around the man's waist and his wrists. A chain was wrapped around his left wrist but the blade attached at the end of the chain was nowhere to be seen, the cloak shrouding all of this man's movements.

"Tesuo!" Hiashi screamed at the top of his lungs, almost swallowing his cigarette, "What the fuck is your problem? Sneaking up on me like that, are you insane?" Hiashi waited for a reply but of course Tesuo just ended up looking away from him, "Figures, you barely talk to me…Remind me why you are in this organization again…"

"Probably because he does his job ten times better than you Hiashi…" A feminine voice sprung out as a girl walked into the conference room, walking in between both men.

Akane was her name, an interesting character in everyone's eyes. She was smaller in height but she defiantly was not smaller in power. She had long dark brown hair that she had tied up in a high pony tail with a red ribbon. Her dark brown eyes stared at the men, judging them with everything she had ever thought of before. She wore a light brown kimono dress that had its sleeves cut off in a rigid way which created larger arm holes than necessary. However to cover her breasts was bandages that were only wrapped around. To tie the dress closer to her body was a red ribbon that continued until her knees. After her waist the dress continued but split down the sides that would have shown everything but black shorts were there to cover up anything. The shorts ended only mid-thigh. The dress ended a bit above her knees. Around her small feet, instead of ninja shoes were just black bandages that allowed her toes to be free. She liked have the feel of her enemies face on her feet. Around her wrists were black cufflinks that had a black forearm armoured plate attached to them which ended a bit after her elbows. Attached to her back by a brown rope was a pair of handles that had five large blades coming out of them. There was a secret button on the handle that allowed her to shoot off each blade.

"What's that!?" Hiashi barked back at the little girl, "Are you suggesting that I don't do my job!?"

"Exactly. You always find some stupid way to mess things up." Akane mocked Hiashi who totally bought into it.

"You want to go!?"

"Bring it on!"

"Enough!" A voice boomed and they both looked to their leader who took a seat at the end of the conference table.

He had short silver hair that ended at the middle of his neck and covered his right eye. Silver eyes sparkled with hatred at his comrades who quietly obeyed his evil look. He had a black scarf that ended at the end of his back. He wore a green loose shirt that ended at the middle of his back. The sleeves made it to the middle of his arm. Underneath the green shirt was a tight black shirt which sleeves ended a bit above the elbows. After that he had brown bandages that covered the rest of his arm except for his hands and elbow. At his waist was a dark brown sash that was tied closer to his body by a black belt. After the sash, his dark blue ripped pants continued until his ankles. Underneath the pants were black pants. He had dark brown calf armoured plates that were tied to his calves by brown bandages. After this, his black ninja shoes began.

"Ah…" Akane's voice brightened up, "Ronin!" Her cheeks reddened and she quickly went up to her leader, "How have our plans been coming along?"

"Well…That is why I brought you all here…I know it has been some time since our last meeting…" Ronin began ignoring Akane and sitting down at a chair, "You know that we have longed for our master's revival but after the disappearance of a certain girl, we lost all hopes of demolishing the barriers that stood in our way." He sighed, "And we lost all hopes of reviving him…" Everyone looked down in sadness but Ronin only smiled, "But fear no longer. For all the rumours about her have been ceased…It turns out she had been hiding away from the world but now they found her and she is well within our grasps. With her ability we will be able to save our master and bring forth the destruction this world has feared for all eternity!" Ronin's lips curved into a bright smile, "Let us find our Missing Princess!"

Ronin threw a file onto the conference table that opened up the moment it hit the table. Every member of his organization looked at the picture of the girl that lay on the table. Akane's eyes burned with jealously as she started at the beautiful red haired girl. Why should any other than her be beautiful? Not to mention hide the key away from them to revive their master! How dare she!

Hiashi smiled evilly at the girl; if she had not been his target, she may have had to worry about something else coming her way. But he shook that thought out of his mind. No girl was going to distract him from reviving his master. Tesuo on the other hand stared at the girl with no emotions running through his mind. But a thought stayed dormant even as Ronin grabbed the file to get the mission started. He could tell from when that picture was taken that she had too much love and hope in her eyes. He had no care about taking that out of her soul but rather he knew that she had too many supporters. He understood just by looking at her, that she wasn't going to be able to come without a fight.

"We all understand our target? She is to be escorted back home on this path…" Ronin pointed to a map, showing with his finger just how she was to be moved closer to the Leaf Village from the Lightning, "We are to take her then. Everyone get ready, we leave tonight."

And with that, the mission had begun. It was only a matter of time until the whole world was brought down upon its knees in front of their master. Nothing could stop the apocalypse.


	2. Chapter 2

_Our Journey Begins_

"Grandma Tsunade…" Naruto began as he looked at the distressed Hokage in front of him, "Is everything alright?"

"Unfortunately, no…I wish it were alright. After everything this world has been through; you would think that it would calm down, even if for a second…" Tsunade sighed as she looked up at her four chosen ninjas, "We have a situation…"

"What seems to be the problem, Sensei?" Sakura asked her but Tsunade looked down.

"There is a group of S-Ranked Criminals who have decided to take over the Akatsuki's place."

"Are you serious!?" Naruto freaked out as he remembered the tough times he had with them. But his mind focused on the pain he found there rather than the hatred.

"Yes…Ronin Yuka, Akane Sasaki, Hiashi Miyazaki, and Tesuo Okayama…All S-Ranked Criminals that have emerged from the grave. We all believed them to be dead…They had faked their own deaths a couple years back, making the threat seem diminished but we were wrong. For some reason they have come back and though I am not sure why, I believe I know what they are after." Tsunade explained as Sai's eyes widened.

"You say that as if they have already achieved it…" Sai pointed out and sadly, Tsunade nodded to his statement.

"Yes. A few days ago, a clan aligned to the Leaf had found a missing person…A princess named Suine Iburame." Tsunade told them, "About 8 years ago, she went missing, without a trace. Many of her clansmen believed her to be dead. However she had been hiding in the Lightning Village all this time; going under the name of Suine Ika. The moment they realized she was alive they hunted her down and forced her to come back home to preform her duties as their princess. On her way being escorted…their patron was ambushed by two ninja; wearing masks but were most likely apart of this group that recently risen. They took the princess and ran off before any of her protectors had a chance to stop them…"

"Those bastards…" Naruto gritted his teeth but Kakashi held a hand up to him, in order to stop him from saying anything else.

"Are we to retrieve her and put an end to this group before they get worse?" Kakashi asked and Tsunade nodded.

"But not without help. There will be two ninja meeting you at the Lightning who will be able to assist you on this mission. Along with two Sand ninja who will be meeting you at the Lightning. One of the Lightning ninja was Suine's subordinate in the Anbu…Her name is Melody Nami. I would turn to her to see if there is anything more she can discuss about this situation better than me."

"Understood."

"Now, you should get going as soon as possible…I fear that Suine is in great danger…" Tsunade paused, "Shikamaru and Hinata will be going with you for support…"

"Don't worry Grandma! We will save her, I promise!"

"Thank you Naruto."

. . .

"Here we are…The Lightning…" Naruto began as the group carefully watched as the distance between them and the Lightning's Gates began to dissipate.

Naruto's eyes however widened the moment he saw KillerBee, Gaara and Temari right at the gate. He smiled happily as ran up to them, greeted by their smiles. However, before Naruto had the chance to ask how they have been, his eyes caught on a figure that stood behind KillerBee's shadow. He looked at the older female, staring closely at her features. She had to be in her early thirties. She had a heart shaped face with her lips curved in a saddened way. Her long light blue hair reached past the end of her back and covered parts of her forehead and eyes, but never covering them fully. Her light blue eyes looked down and away from the men that were before her. She wore the Anbu outfit, like Tsunade had described, and had the Anbu tattoo on her left shoulder.

"Hello…" Naruto began and the girl sadly looked up to him, "I'm Naruto Uzamaki…And you are?"

"M…Melody…Nami." She lightly spoke out, refusing to shake Naruto's hand.

"Melody Nami, the friend of the Princess, right?" Kakashi asked and her eyes glittered with anger.

"Her name is not Princess…It's Suine." Melody gritted her sharper teeth in anger, "I would gladly appreciate it if you refrain from using that word to describe her."

"Sorry…" Kakashi rolled his eyes and turned back to KillerBee who shrugged his shoulders, "What's with your comrade?" Kakashi whispered.

"I don't know fool!" KillerBee let out and Melody angrily looked at Kakashi.

"My problem is that a bunch of fools came here thinking they understand Suine and are on their 'mission' to save her…" Melody angrily told everyone, "You think that because her father comes out of nowhere and steals her away…"

"She was stolen from you?" Naruto's eyes widened, "We were not told that…"

"Of course you weren't. Her father would have made sure that no one knew. That's how he always does things…"

"Are you saying that he is a liar and has betrayed the trust of the Leaf Village?" Shikamaru asked and Melody looked to him.

"I'm saying his intentions were never to give Suine back her royal crown…" Melody sighed, "He wants to lock her up like he did before…he fears her Kekkei Genkai...that's why she ran away…you see."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura turned to Kakashi who intensely looked at Melody to see whether she was telling the truth or not.

"There is nothing more that we can do to help your friend…" Kakashi sighed, "You must understand that we have our orders…"

"Orders…" Melody felt an angry smile come to her lips, "Well you Leaf ninja sure do love your orders…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gaara jumped into the conversation but Melody held up her hands to stop anymore rebuttal against her accusation.

"Nothing, dear Kazekage…" Melody began, "I am sorry if I said anything insulting…That was not my intention…I was merely trying to inform the Leaf of what I learned from Suine…All I wish to say is that she was missing for a reason. I fear more for her when she goes back to her father rather than being caught by some ninjas. She can handle ninjas…but her father she cannot."

"You seem awfully calm despite the fact that she was stolen by S-Ranked Criminals." Sai told Melody and her eyes widened.

"W-What…How…What?" Melody felt the sweat drip down her face.

"Yeah…There is a new group, like the Akatsuki out there. Ronin I believe is there Leader…" Naruto told her and Melody let out a huge heavy sigh making everyone wonder what she really knew.

"How are the two related? How can you know that she was taken by them?" Melody asked.

"Well we don't know for sure but we are assuming that since the men wore masks that it was likely them…" Kakashi explained but Melody continued to seem skeptical.

"I have my suspicions but I don't really see the connection between the two. But if you think that they would take her than I would assume we start there. Anyone have any idea on where to start looking?" Melody asked around but no one seemed to have any clues, "Well…What do we do now?"

"I say we talk to the guards. Do you have them here still for interrogation?"

"Ah yes we do. Follow me and we shall interrogate them further."

Everyone began to follow Melody as she took them to the Anbu's headquarters. Naruto watched the girl carefully as she opened the doors to the Anbu's headquarters. It was weird how calm she was even though her friend had been missing for a couple of days. However, Naruto dismissed it for the time being, there were more important things to tend to. Once they headed into the interrogation room, Naruto's eyes widened as there were five soldiers dressed in silver armour sitting in chairs around a table.

"Here idiots, you have visitors." Melody addressed them and they angrily turned to her.

"You know you could treat us with some respect…" One soldier began but Melody gave them all a glare.

"You get no respect from me…That's what happens when you lose my best friend to criminals…" Melody told them and they looked down sadly to the ground, "Ask them whatever you want…I have some business to attend to…I will meet you all back at the gates in about 30 minutes. Hopefully by then these assholes would have given you something to go off of. God knows they gave me nothing…"

With that Melody left the room, slamming the door on her way out. Everyone felt the warmth come into the air again once she left the room. It was unsettling how cold she was to everyone. However, Naruto knew it was all rooted to Suine. He could tell, even if she tried to hide it, that Suine was her best friend. She was just like Sasuke was to him.

"Thank god she's gone…" Another soldier let out his feelings, "That woman has been harassing us none stop for two days. We told her all there is to know…"

"Look, just tell us what happened. Everything that you witnessed, that means also with Suine…" Kakashi asked them and their eyes widened.

"Princess Suine…" The leader of the soldiers spoke up, "Well we got a tip that the Princess was in the Lightning Village and of course we found her, walking with that woman. They seemed happy and I guess I feel guilty for having to take her away from that happiness. We quickly seized the Princess and that woman fought back but we eventually got the Anbu on our side which stopped her from getting the Princess back." The leader paused, "That's when I noticed how sad the Princess had gotten. While we escorted her back, not too far from here about a 15 minute walk down the road, we were ambushed. There were two ninjas, both different in height but they wore two different masks…I don't remember what they really looked like but I remember feeling afraid for the Princess's life…They attacked us and in a matter of seconds we were on the ground. It was unbelievable these men were at a much higher level than us. I remember before fainting seeing the Princess taken by those bastards. But…She smiled at the man who picked her up…She knew him, I'm sure of it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to pick her up. She was not afraid of him…"

"She knew him!?" Naruto's eyes widened, "But why? Why would she-"

"Isn't it obvious…" Temari began and Naruto turned to her, "It was a planned ambush…"

"Planned?" The soldiers asked, "Why does the princess hate us so much?"

"Did your King ever discuss Suine being locked up?" Kakashi asked and everyone's eyes widened except for the leader, "Did you know?"

"I only heard rumours…I heard that she was locked up when she was young because her father was scared of her Kekkei Genkai…" The leader told them and Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"So Melody wasn't lying when she said Suine ran away for a purpose…It is not a coincidence that the stories are so similar…" Shikamaru exclaimed and Kakashi sighed, "But that means that…"

"Melody planned to steal Suine all along to save her from going back to a hellhole." Gaara finished Shikamaru's sentence, "She helped her friend at any cost."

"So she knows where Suine is?" Naruto exclaimed, "What should we do? Confront her about it?"

"I don't know something doesn't seem right…" Kakashi started.

"I agree…" Sai continued, "I think there is more to this…I have a feeling that the Princess is still in danger…"

"Well, all the more reason to go see Melody and find out where she hid Suine." Naruto told everyone who nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

_Change of Plans_

"Melody!" Kakashi yelled out as they reached the gate where Melody leaned against the gates walls, "You have some explaining to do!"

"Why?" Melody smirked.

"We know that you planned the ambush. We know that you took Suine…"

"Do you now? And where's your proof?"

"Our proof?" Shikamaru asked and Melody chuckled.

"Why would I steal my own best friend?" Melody continued, "If you do not have the answer to that question then you cannot possibly-"

"Melody!" A voice yelled which surprised the entire group. Melody fell out of her cool self and Naruto watched as her true self came out.

Her eyes widened at the figure that ran towards her. The man had a white mask on with lightning bolts all around the white mask. There was a slit where his mouth should be and a curvy line where his eyes should be. He had dark blue spikey hair that ended at the middle of his neck. Around his neck a black scarf that hide any skin from the public's eyes. He wore a black t-shirt which ended in the middle of his forearm. After the t-shirt ended there was a dark blue long sleeve shirt that covered the rest of his arm until his wrists. After his wrists he wore black gloves which covered his skin even more. The man wore black pants that ended right as soon as his black ninja shoes started.

"W-What are you doing here!?" Melody screamed at him.

"There's our proof…" Gaara told her and she shot him a death glare.

"I…I had to come…No…No time…to explain…" He breathed out heavily, "Suine…danger…"

"What about Suine? What happened to her? She was supposed to be safe with you and…the other guy." Melody began to question the man.

"She was…" The man caught his breath and stood up straight to overpower Melody with his height, "She was safe Melody but then…Then some jackasses began to attack our home."

"Is it gone?"

"Yeah they destroyed it…"

"Fuckers." Melody paused, "But what about Suine?"

"They want…her…He told me to come and get you."

"But what about his brilliant plan?"

"Change of plans, Melody! Bring them along we can use all the help we can get…We need to hurry…I don't get a good feeling from these guys…They almost remind me of the Akatsuki…"

"The Akatsuki!?"

"We need to go now!" The man looked past the shocked Melody and stared at Naruto, "Well this will be interesting…Come on Melody…"

"Okay, take me to her."

The man nodded and Melody quickly followed him as he began to run away from the village. Everyone else quickly did the same, trying to keep up with them as they traveled at an unimaginable speed to save Suine.

. . .

"How far away are we?" Kakashi asked Melody and the masked man who simply turned to him. They were running through a forest, getting closer to their destination.

"Not much farther…I'm sorry for not being up straight with you." Melody told the group, "It was not my intention to lead you astray but this was not my plan."

"This wasn't your plan?" Shikamaru asked, "Then whose-"

"I cannot say. But I trust his judgement so I followed every word of it. It turns out your theory about that group of S-Ranked Criminals begin connected to Suine was not far from the truth. I had no idea someone was after her…" Melody exclaimed, "I need everyone to follow us closely, don't lose sight of us okay? My house isn't exactly in plain view."

"Why not?" Naruto yelled out to try to keep up with the conversation.

"A genjutsu?" Kakashi asked and Melody nodded.

"It was in order to protect Suine." Melody explained, "But I have no more time to explain anything else. We are here."

Everyone watched closely as they followed Melody. She and the masked man suddenly disappeared, but they followed what Melody had explained earlier. They followed them and suddenly they saw that they were no longer in a forest but a clearing that was near the river. There was a three story wooden house that was completely demolished. There was another masked man who held his arm out to protect a girl from another man who had a creepy look in his face.

"Kid!" The previous masked man yelled out and the younger man turned to look at his comrade.

The younger masked man had black hair that ended at the end of his neck. He had two bangs that went on either side of his cheeks. He wore a white mask that had black and red lines going all over his mask. He had a slit where his mouth should be and eye holes where his eyes were but nothing could be seen. He wore the same thing as the taller masked man but he had no gloves.

The woman he was protecting had short red hair that reached her shoulders. Parts of her hair covered her eyes but there were no real bangs present. She had beautiful brown eyes that fearfully stared at the ninja that had made it to her house. On top of her head was a silver tiara that her father made her put on once she was to be escorted back. She wore a pink kimono that had darker pink flowers all around the sleeves and the bottom of the looser kimono. There was a dark purple trim that followed every corner of the kimono and a purple ribbon tied around her waist with a big bow at the back. The bottom of the kimono flowed out after her knees. She had light brown wooden shoes with white socks on.

"Wow…Suine…" Melody blinked before chuckling, "What a girly outfit you have on…"

"Shut up!" Suine barked back at Melody, "This is not the time to be talking about my clothing! Some prick came in and ruined our plan!"

"Well I wouldn't exactly call myself a prick…" The man that threatened Suine spoke up, "My name is Ronin-"

"I don't care what your name is!" Suine yelled at him, "You ruined my house!"

"I had to get your attention somehow…"

"By wrecking my house?"

"I like you…We are going to get along just fine my dear Suine."

The masked man that protected Suine stiffened at his words. Suine noticed this and lightly put a hand onto his arm to relax him. But even her touch could not get rid of this dark feeling within his stomach. Ronin wanted something from Suine and it was not going to boil over well.

However, to surprise them all, another ninja joined the group of people by jumping into the genjutsu. His sharigon looked around the group and locked on his target that stood a couple meters away from him.

"Sasuke!?" Naruto's voice yelped out making everyone turn to him, "W-What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you stupid Leaf the same question." Sasuke angrily told them.

"Oh you and I are going to get along just perfectly." Melody smiled at the young Uchiha.

"This prick here decided to go after me the other day, said he wanted my blood or something stupid like that." Sasuke replied to Naruto, ignoring Melody's words.

"My name is not prick; it's Ronin." Ronin told everyone and Melody rolled her eyes.

"Just tell us what you want…" Melody asked him and his eyes widened.

"Don't want to know anything else about my plans?"

"Not particularly. It's the same with all you S-Ranked Criminals. Death, death…death and taking over the world." Melody sighed and Ronin chuckled.

"Ouch…" Both masked men replied to Melody's comments and she quickly waved her hands.

"Not meaning you two of course." Melody rephrased and Ronin laughed even more.

"Well…seeing as how you know what I want…then it is quite simple. I need Suine and Sasuke." Ronin paused, "Suine for her Kekkei Genkai and Sasuke for…well his blood. Trust me if there were any other of you Uchiha's alive I'd gladly go after them but unfortunately I need an Uchiha's blood."

"Takaeshi…You want to revive Takaeshi…" The young masked man accused and Ronin's eyes widened.

"Well don't we just have someone with a brain and an understanding of the Uchiha's history…" Ronin smiled, "Yes; that is my master."

"You won't get Suine…You'll have to get through me…"

"Is that a challenge or a threat?"

"A threat."

"Oh, confident are we?"

"Suine don't use your Kekkei Genkai at all do you understand…Avoid it at all costs."

"I understand." Suine nodded.

"Now I need you to go to Melody…" The young masked man exclaimed but was caught off by Ronin who charged at the both of them.

The masked man swept Suine off of her feet and dodged Ronin's attack. Ronin turned to the man and quickly followed him. The masked man put Suine down, allowing himself some time to get ready to stop Ronin. He turned around, pulling out his sword and stopped Ronin from attacking them with his own sword. Ronin laughed as he grabbed a kunai from his pocket, still distracting the man with his sword. He then sliced the man's forearm trying to make him move but he refused. Ronin then licked the blood off of his kunai's blade.

"I want to taste the fear you have for me…" Ronin smiled but the man refused to speak another word to him, "Your blood tastes so…so…" Ronin's eyes widened, "Oh this is just priceless. Looks like I don't need Sasuke anymore!"

"What!?" Sasuke's voice yelled out and the man kicked Ronin away from him.

"Another surviving Uchiha!? How surprising this is…How truly shocking…" Ronin smiled, "Now I don't have to go to Sasuke, I can go to a weaker Uchiha…"

"Don't underestimate my abilities Ronin!" The masked man barked to Ronin.

"I do not underestimate an Uchiha…But rather that I know your weakness…while Sasuke has none…"

The masked man turned to Suine whose eyes widened. Ronin had learned so much about the both of them by just fighting them. Suine looked sadly as the masked man turned back to Ronin who had disappeared.

"Help me!" Suine's voice began and the masked man turned back to her to see that Ronin had a kunai pointed at her neck.

"Just like this…She's your weakness. Why else would you protect her so much unless you loved her?" Ronin bluntly pointed out and the masked man stayed silent, "Well aren't you going to beg for your beloved's life?"

"Would that make a difference?" The masked man sighed, "I know how criminals like you work. You found out my weakness and you want to exploit it. I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of seeing me beg."

"Hm…" Ronin smiled, "No but now I get to see you struggle as you realize you gave me what I needed…"

The masked man stayed focused on Ronin, trying to assess the situation. There had to be some way he could save Suine. However, he watched as Suine's eyes widened in fear and her mouth opened wide as to scream something. He could tell she was screaming but he couldn't hear her voice. That's when the pain kicked in. His eyes widened as he looked down at his chest to see a sword lodged through the middle of his chest. He saw the green liquid that the sword was doused in drip to the ground. He saw his blood mixing with the liquid and he knew something was wrong.

He looked behind himself to see Ronin standing there with an evil grin on his face. He made a clone and the man didn't even sense it, it was like he had no chakra at all. The man grunted as the sword was pulled out of his chest. His eyes began to feel heavy as his knees buckled. He stared at Suine, who he could still barely hear. She held a hand out to him and he tried to grab it but Ronin pulled her away, taking her off into the trees. The man watched as some Leaf ninja chased after Ronin. The man fell backwards, but his body was caught by the older masked man.

"Kid!" He screamed out for his comrade, "How didn't he realize that he was behind him?"

"I didn't sense it either…" Melody began as she put her hand onto the puddle where the green liquid dropped, "Hmm…"

"Is it poison?" Sakura came up and quickly bent down to the masked man, healing his wounds.

"No…" Melody began, "I'm not quite sure what it is, I have never seen a mixture like this."

"S…" The masked man tried to speak, "Sui…"

"What?" The other masked man began, "Don't worry we will get Suine back."

"I…" The masked man fainted quietly and everyone quickly went up to him.

"He's okay…Just unconscious…I will have to figure out what he did to him though." Sakura explained.

Eventually the ninja that chased after Ronin came back with no luck. Suine was gone and the masked man had fainted. Melody sighed as the sky began to darken, meaning night time was hitting. She stood up and grabbed pieces of her demolished house and put them in a pile, where she soon lit it on fire. Everyone gathered around the fire and the older masked man put the 'kid' down by the fire to warm up his cooled body.

"I guess I do have some explaining to do…" Melody sighed and all the ninjas turned to her. Sasuke had even joined the group, wanting to figure out why Ronin chased him and who this mysterious Uchiha was, "Okay…a couple of days ago, Suine's father's soldiers all came into the Lightning and they took her away from me."

"Without warning?" Kakashi asked and Melody nodded.

"So I found these two ninjas and asked them for assistance." Melody began, "Suine knew right from the moment that she saw them that they were there to save her. They both wore a piece of jewellery from me that I knew she would recognize." Melody paused, "I couldn't let that bastard just try to take her away from me again."

"So you did everything you could to save Suine…" Naruto began and Melody nodded, "I understand where you are coming from…I always have."

"You do?"

"Of course. I still have friends…" Naruto looked down and Sasuke looked away from him, "That I wish to save."

"I am sorry for misleading you before…" Melody paused, "I was just trying to protect Suine. I hope you all can forgive me."

The crowd lightly smiled to Melody but there was something that made Kakashi not believe a single word that Melody had said. After all, Ronin did point out that the younger masked man had been overprotective of Suine. He seemed to care for her more than anyone should on a paid job.

"I am still unsure of your explanation." Kakashi began and Melody turned to him, "That man right there-" Kakashi pointed to the young masked man but was interrupted by the older one.

"His name is Minori and I am Ryuu." Ryuu explained to associate names.

"Well Minori had a connection with Suine…" Kakashi said which made Melody and Ryuu look to each other.

"They don't know each other. I really have no idea why Ronin thought that…" Melody explained as Ryuu nodded.

"I've known Minori ever since I was kid. I can tell you that he has never met Suine before." Ryuu tried to help validate Melody's accusation but Kakashi still did not buy it. However, he decided to let it go for the time being.

"Is he an Uchiha?" Sasuke asked and the entire group turned to him, "Ronin said that he was-"

"Yes." Ryuu began, "He…had been in the forest, meeting with a girl from the Leaf at the time of the murders…When he came back his entire family had been…"

"I…see…" Sasuke finished the conversation right there and stood up, "Well as fun as this has been, I see no further use of me being here so-"

"No wait!" Melody stood up and went over to him, "Please…stay."

"Why should I? And more importantly why do you care?"

"I know that we can use all the help we can to get Suine back and I'm asking…no…I'm begging you to help us." Melody got down on her knees, "Please…I know that we need another Uchiha to help us…I doubt the Leaf probably more than you do…"

"…No."

"Please! Don't you even want to meet the only family you have left?"

Sasuke's eyes widened at Melody's words. Everyone watched Melody carefully, wondering why she wanted Sasuke here so badly. Naruto choked it up to being afraid of the Leaf and wanting someone to run to should the Leaf try to take Suine away. Sasuke looked at Minori and he couldn't deny the curiosity of how he escaped death that very night. He did want to ask him some questions. He sighed and looked back to the kneeling women at his feet.

"Fine." Sasuke told her and she looked up happily at him, "But not for your stupid Princess…I have some questions I want answered."

"Thank you." Melody stood up, feeling the happiness sweep her, "You won't regret it."

"Hey…Minori…" Ryuu's voice shocked the entire group and they turned to him, watching him poke Minori in the cheek, "Wake up…"

"He is just resting now." Sakura stated, "He probably won't be waking up until tomorrow morning."

"Hopefully…Because we have to save Suine as soon as possible."


End file.
